La Douleur Exquise
by shaolin author
Summary: What do you do when the stuff of nightmares becomes a reality? And what do you do when you can't keep away? (vampire au)


**La Douleur Exquise**

 **Summary;** What do you do when the stuff of nightmares becomes a reality? And what do you do when you can't keep away? (vampire au)

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 _ **La Douleur Exquise**_ (French): The heart-wrenching pain of wanting someone you can't have and knowing that you will still try to be with them

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ONE

"And you're _sure_ you have everything?"

"Yes, mom."

"Do you have your inhaler? The brown one? You _always_ forget the bro-"

Levy rolled her eyes as she pulled away from her mother, fixing her with a stern stare, "I have _everything_ , mom. We went through the contents of my luggage _twice_ on the way up, remember?"

"I know, I know," her mother sighed, her bottom lip quivering a little, "I just don't want you to leave."

Levy felt her resolve waver slightly.

"I'll be back," she said quietly, allowing herself to fall back into her mother's embrace, "it's only for two years."

"We've never been apart that long," her mother mumbled, ducking her face into Levy's hair in an attempt to hide her quickly watering eyes from her. She failed.

"It's not like I'm leaving you alone," Levy whispered, her gaze flickering to the man who stood a few metres away from them. He'd stood far enough to give them some privacy, but not enough to seem rude, and she shot him a grateful smile, he was always thoughtful like that.

Feeling her strength returning a little, she pulled away from her mother and looked her straight in the eye, "you've got Phil. He'll look after you, won't you Phil?"

The man, Phil, nodded, his usually bright smile dimmed a little as he watched their exchange.

"See!" she forced a wide smile onto her face, well aware that it probably looked a little strained, "and besides, you've had me all to yourself for the last seventeen years, I think dad deserves at _least_ two with me."

Her mother sniffed, but reluctantly nodded and Levy fought to stop the exhale of relief from escaping her lungs. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle tears.

A tinny voice crackled out through the overhead system announcing it was time for her to board her plane and she felt her mother stiffen underneath her. Eyes wide, she glanced frantically over at Phil and was relieved to find he was by her side almost immediately.

"Come on, Dan," he said as he gently pried her off Levy, "let her catch her flight."

Levy shot him another grateful smiled and quickly pulled him into a brief one-armed hug, "take care of her, Phil," she whispered.

"You know I will."

"Make sure you call or text me as _soon_ as you land," her mother said sternly, dabbing at her eyes before the tears could fall, "and I've told Noah to-" she cleared her throat, "your _father_ , that you _need_ to have your own landline in your room, so if he hasn't done that, let me know and I'll nag him for you. And make sure he feeds you properly, I know he loves his greasy food, but you need a _balanced_ diet an-"

"I'll be fine mom," Levy leaned forwards and pecked her on the cheek before grabbing the handle of her suitcase and taking a step backwards, "stop worrying."

"I _can't_."

The tinny voice crackled through the overhead speakers again and Levy took another step backwards, knowing her mother could keep up with this all day. She took a deep breath and gripped the handle of her suitcase tightly, "Phil, take care of her. Mom, I love you."

And then she turned on her heel and hurried away, knowing that if she'd turned around she'd be met with the sobbing face of her mother and then she'd never be able to leave.

The lump in her throat seemed to grow with each step she took but she forced herself onwards, constantly telling herself that this was for the best. She desperately ignored the voice in her head that wouldn't stop telling her she was wrong.

It was as if she were running on autopilot. One minute she was showing her ticket for inspection, the next she was shoving her suitcase into the overhead compartment - trying her best not to let it drop on the man beneath its head.

She supposed that was for the best. If she'd had time to think about her actions she may have succumbed to the voice in her head that was now _screeching_ out in defiance. Frowning, she strapped herself into her seat just in time for the pilot's voice to blare out through the planes tannoy system.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentleman. This is your pilot speaking, and we'd like to welcome you on-board this flight to Fiore National. Due to some earlier delays, the expected flight duration is around four hours and…"

She tuned the pilot out by sticking in her headphones, her thumb ghosting over the control of her _ridiculously_ old iPod as she tried to find a song that would help soothe her nerves. The man next to her groaned when the pilot announced the flight duration, but she was actually quite glad for added thirty minutes or so. It would give her more time to clear her mind. On top of the, now, four hours flight to the Fiore National Airport, she still had to endure a one hour trip in a small plane to Crocus, and _then_ a one hour drive with her father up to Magnolia.

Her chest tightened slightly as she thought of her final destination: Magnolia. Also known as the wettest place in Fiore. It didn't matter that the rest of the country had a fairly nice climate, a constant grey cloud of gloom and doom seemed to hover over Magnolia constantly. Levy could count the number of sunny days she'd seen in the small town during the last seventeen years on both hands and _still_ have some fingers left over.

Why on _earth_ her father couldn't live somewhere nice and sunny, she had no idea. She liked the sun. She liked how it made her feel, how it brightened up her pale skin, how it warmed her skin and brought a smile to her face. People were _much_ happier when it was sunny. But in Magnolia it was rain and cloud, almost 24/7. She'd need to buy a whole new wardrobe. She sighed a little as she realised her "winter clothes" in Bosco were probably "summer clothes" for Magnolia.

The plane began to crawl forwards slowly and she peeked outside through the tiny window, smiling bitterly as she watched the bright Bosco sun begin to rise.

She wondered when she'd next see sunlight like this.

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"You haven't grown a _bit_."

Levy laughed, wrinkling up her nose in mild annoyance, as her father caught her in a tight bear hug and proceeded to squeeze the life out of her.

"I've missed you too, dad." And she wasn't lying, she _had_ missed her father. Thanks mostly to attending school in Bosco, and feeling like she had to keep a careful eye on her mother, she hadn't spent as much time with her father as she would have liked to. They kept in touch via email and brief phone calls, and she'd spend a month in Magnolia each 'summer' in attempt to rekindle their bond.

It wasn't ideal, but he'd never seemed to mind too much and she, not overly excited about spending too much time in the rainy town of Magnolia, had never complained. A twinge of guilt shot through her at that, and she made a mental note to try and remedy her relationship with him whilst she was in Magnolia.

After what felt like an age, he pulled away from her and she finally got to get a good look at him. To her relief, it looked like he'd been eating well. She always had this fear that, when he was alone, he ate nothing but take-out and microwaveable meals. But he looked fit, and healthy, though the mop of dark blue hair on top of his head was beginning to thin a little.

"How's Danielle?" he asked, easily lifting her luggage as they made her way to the parking lot, "she's been chewing my ear off for _weeks_ , you know?"

Levy laughed again, feeling sympathetic for her father, "mom's fine. She said to say hello, and that she hopes you're well."

He snorted in disbelief, and Levy purposely covered her hand to hide her own snort of laughter. Her parents weren't always on speaking terms.

Despite living with her mother almost permanently, Levy had always figured she was more like her father. Personality wise anyway. Image wise, she knew she was practically a spitting image of her mother - albeit a _lot_ shorter - but she'd inherited her father's easy-going temperament and sense of humor. He was easy to talk to and said pretty much whatever was on his mind.

"Took me till right up to this morning to believe you were _actually_ coming to stay," he said conversationally as he tossed her luggage into the trunk of his police cruiser, "kept thinking I'd made the whole thing up."

That twinge of guilt shot through her again. Maybe he _had_ minded not seeing his only child very often.

"Of course you didn't make it up," she mumbled as she strapped herself in and nodded for him to start driving, "I've been meaning to do this for a while."

That part was a lie, but she didn't miss the way his eyes lit up slightly when she said it.

They passed the better part of an hour in a companionable silence, with Noah only speaking up every now and then to ask if she liked the song that was blaring through the radio.

After a while, it became obvious they'd crossed border and were now in Magnolia.

 _No turning back now_.

As usual, it was beautiful. She'd never been able to gripe about the town's wonderful scenery, it was like out of a page of a fairy tale sometimes. Moss hugged the trees, and ivy wound its way up the side of buildings. The tree branches stretched far and wide, creating a sort of canopy over the parts of the town. The looming forest that the town was built around look dark and scary, and yet extremely inviting at the same time. She'd spent far too many days of her childhood dreaming about the magical creatures that _must've_ lived in there.

"I got you a present."

" _Dad_!" Levy turned to him, unsurprised to find he was grinning sheepishly up at her, "I told you, you didn't need to get me anything."

"I know, I know," he ducked his head a little, "it's just, well...I know it's going to be tough for you at first."

"Da-"

" _And_ ," he said pointedly, purposely ignoring her interruption, "I wanted to do as much as I could to make you feel comfortable. So…" He turned a corner, pulling into a road she recognized vividly.

They were home.

She watched as he crawled to a stop outside the house she'd spent her summers in. It was a small, two bedroom, house with peeling paint and an overgrown lawn he constantly promised he'd do up one day. Everything looked exactly the same as the last time she'd been in Magnolia. Everything except the faded orange truck that sat in the drive.

Her eyebrows shot into her hairline as she stared at the vehicle.

" _Dad_ , it's... _huge_."

Noah laughed, "a little, for you anyway. But it's got good mileage and I got it pretty cheap."

"How...old is it?"

"Pretty old," he said honestly, the sheepish smile tugging at his lips again, "there's a reason I got it so cheap, you know?"

She hummed in answer as she got out of the cruiser and made her way to inspect the truck. She hadn't been exaggerating before; the truck was _huge_. She figured she'd have to make a running leap just to get into it. She cupped her hands over her eyes as she peered into it through the fogged up window. The seats were peeling brown leather and, if she was honest with herself, looked as if they'd seen better days. But, other than that, she decided she liked it. It looked fairly sturdy and, most importantly, _dry._

She turned to her father, he was standing in the doorway of their home with her luggage by his side, "I _love_ it."

"Really? I was worried you'd want something more fla-"

She skipped towards him and pressed a quick kiss against his cheek, giggling a little when he froze, "it's perfect. Thank you. _Really_ , I was worried you'd have to drop me off at school every day in the cruiser."

Her smile dimmed a little as they entered the house. She'd been doing her best to not think about starting school. Magnolia was a small town, and she was very certain she'd be the center of attention, something she'd never dealt with very well before.

The lump in her throat was back and she half-heartedly considered pretending she was too tired to go to school tomorrow. But the voice of reason in her head refused to let her - there was no sense in putting off the inevitable. And besides, the longer she took to attend school, the more people would talk. Might as well get it over in one go, like ripping off a band-aid.

Her phone buzzed suddenly in the pocket, and she fished it out unsurprised to see her mother's name and number flashing impatiently on the screen.

"It's mom," she called over her shoulder, "do you mind if I…" she nodded upstairs.

"No, go ahead," Noah waved her away, "I'll get some food out for when you're finished."

"Thanks dad."

She finished climbing the small staircase and quickly dove into the room that had always been set aside for her. Like the house, it hadn't changed much since her childhood and she made a mental note to bug her father about possibly doing some redecorating. The princess wallpaper was a bit of an overkill nowadays. Her phone buzzed again and she sighed as she slid her thumb across the screen, "hey, mom."

As she settled herself into her, slightly too small, bed, only half-heartedly listening to her mother's scolds for not calling as soon as she landed, thunder boomed ominously in the distance.

After a few seconds, rain began to pelt down and she purposely turned away from the window.

 _Welcome to Magnolia._

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By the time she woke up the next day, the rain had lessened to a soft drizzle. While not the type of weather she was used to, Levy decided to chalk that one up as a win on her mental tally chart. For a few moments, she lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, half tempted to fall back asleep and act like she'd slept through her alarm. But then she heard the sound of her father whistling away downstairs, clanging pots and pans together and she realised he was attempting to make her breakfast.

A wry smile tugged at her lips as she rolled out of bed and padded towards her suitcase. She hadn't had the energy to unpack the night before, so she tugged and old jumper out of it, along with her towel and snatched the jeans she wore the previous day off her desk chair.

"Morning Levy!" Noah called as she padded across the upstairs landing.

"Morning dad."

Her smile brightened slightly as she dove into the bathroom and locked it behind her. She didn't miss the happy lilt in her father's tone as he had wished her good-morning, and it warmed her spirits a little too. She showered as quickly as she could, finding that splashing the warm water over her face helped to calm her nerves a little, and ran a comb through her hair, before giving up and simply pulling it back from her face with one of her favorite headbands.

The small of bacon frying quickly tempted her out of the bathroom and she practically flew down the stairs, grinning as she stared at the plate of bacon and toast.

"Someone's in a good mood," he remarked with a chuckle, already finished his own breakfast, "I was worried I'd have to drag you out of bed this morning."

She grinned sheepishly as she slid into her seat, her father knew her better than she'd thought.

"You alright to find the school," he asked, as he grabbed his jacket off the coat hook, "I would drop you on your first day bu-"

"It's fine dad," she said through a mouthful of toast, "I'd rather not show up on my first day in the cruiser. And besides, I've got the truck remember."

He opened his mouth as if to argue, but quickly shut it and nodded, "alright, alright. Make sure you drive safely, and if you have any problems, give me a call."

"Aye, aye, Chief."

He laughed at that before offering her an awkward little wave before he left the house.

By the time she'd finished her breakfast and was safely strapped inside her truck, barreling down the main road, she was in remarkably high spirits. The idea of attending a brand new school was no longer eating her out from the inside, and she found she was actually looking forward to meeting her new classmates.

That feeling evaporated pretty much entirely as she pulled into the parking lot.

There weren't many people around yet, but the ones that were seemed to have no qualms with staring openly at her as she exited her truck and made her way to the main office.

She stuck out like a sore thumb.

Trying her best to ignore their stares, she hurried across the lot and practically dove inside the main office building, relieved to get away from prying eyes.

An old woman sat behind the desk, tapping away at her keyboard.

Fixing her most polite smile onto her face, Levy approached, "hello?"

The woman behind the desk looked up at her with suspicious eyes, "can I help you dear?"

"It's my first day," Levy began, but she was immediately cut off by the woman. Her eyes lit up and a friendly smile crossed her features.

"Levy McGarden? Chief McGarden's daughter? Ah," the woman leaned forwards in her chair and practically _purred_ at her, "we've heard _so_ much about you my dear. Welcome to Magnolia."

The smile she forced onto her lips felt strained, but Levy kept it up all the same, understanding that the woman probably didn't _mean_ to sound so...creepy, "thank you, it's a lovely town. Um, would you happen to have my schedule?"

The woman nodded and ducked beneath her desk for a fraction of a second, pulling out a map and a timetable for her. She highlighted a few places on the map before sliding it across the counter, "the school isn't very large, so you should find your way fairly quickly, but if you do need any help, come and find me."

Levy snatched the paper from the counter, smiled at the woman in thanks, and quickly backed out of the small office. The woman had seemed friendly enough, but she had unnerved Levy with her over eagerness, as if they'd been talking about nothing _but_ her for the last few weeks. With a sad little sigh, Levy realised that was probably true.

"Hey!"

She froze, frowning a little as she turned around. Back in Bosco, people had called out to her _all_ the time, but she had _friends_ in Bosco. Here, she knew nobody.

"Um," she glanced around before her gaze settled on two boys standing not too far away from here, "me?"

The tallest of the boys grinned as she closed the gap between them, "sorry, we overheard you in the office, you're Levy McGarden?"

She resisted the urge to cringe. It wasn't _their_ fault they lived in a small town where gossip spread like wildfire after all. Instead she smiled brightly up at them, "that's right, it's, ah, nice to meet you?"

It ended up sounding more like a question than she would have wanted, but thankfully neither boy seemed to take offense to it.

The tallest one, with long burnt orange hair pulled into a ponytail, laughed as he extended his hand, "Jet Lowry."

The second boy stepped forwards and offered his own hand. He was shorter than Jet, but not as short as she, with pudgy cheeks and a weird hairstyle Levy was _sure_ used far too much hairspray to stay upright.

"Droy Gardini," he said, with a smile just as wide and inviting as Jet's. Oddly, she felt instantly at ease with the two boys, "I think we've met before, once or twice when we were kids?"

She frowned, probing her mind for any memory of the two boys during her summers spent with her father. She _vaguely_ remembered spending time in a garden pool with some of the other kids in their neighborhood, but she couldn't put any faces to the blurred children in her memories.

Jet laughed again, " _see_ , I _told_ you she wouldn't remember."

Droy pouted, "well, it was worth a try."

She smiled sheepishly, falling into step as they walked through the parking lot, which was slowly filling up with cars, "sorry, I'm terrible with faces."

"S'ok, it was years ago. We were really surprised when your dad said you'd be moving here."

She pulled a face, "has he been bragging?"

Droy chuckled, "I wouldn't call it _bragging_ , but yes. _Everyone_ is expecting you."

She didn't know why she was surprised. She'd expected that would happen, but she hadn't quite prepared herself for being an overnight celebrity.

"What class do you have first period?" Jet asked suddenly, snapping her out of her reverie.

She hummed for a moment or two as she unfolded her timetable and scanned it quickly, "I...uh...Math till 11," she pulled another face. Of _course_ she'd have her least favorite subject for a double period on her first day. Of course.

Beside her, both Jet and Droy seemed oblivious to her dismay, and they both cheered, "us too! We can show you the way!"

They seemed a tad over eager, but she wasn't about to begrudge the first two people she'd met that looked like they wanted to be friends with her, so she quietly followed them through the building, half-heartedly listening to their conversation whilst simultaneously pretending like she couldn't see that pretty much _everyone_ was staring at her curiously as they passed.

She wondered how long that would last.

"Woah, incoming. They're back."

She frowned, glancing up at Jet as she heard the tone in his voice change ever so slightly. Her frown intensified as she realised that at least half of the people that had been staring at her, now had their attention set on something else. Not that she was complaining, but still...it was strange.

"What's…" her voice trailed off as she followed Jet and Droy's line of sight. Six people had just entered the building through the opposite doors. Instantly, it became obvious why they'd captivated the interest of half of the student population.

They were all breathtaking to look at. Absently, she wondered what the _hell_ they were all doing at school, when it was _obvious_ to anyone that they could've each had successful careers as models.

A tall blonde woman led the group, her long locks pulled into a high ponytail that swung from side to side with every inch she moved. Even from the relative distance, Levy could see her skin was like porcelain, free from blemishes and almost _glistening_ slightly. Following her came a boy with light pink hair, with a devilish grin plastered across his face. He walked with an easy lope, his gaze focused on the blonde entirely, and yet he didn't bump into anyone or anything. He mumbled something and the blondes lips split into a wide grin, showing a blindingly white set of teeth.

Behind them were two boys, another blond and one with shoulder length black hair pulled into a messy bun. The blond had his arm draped around the other and, like the pink haired one, neither appeared to be paying attention to where they walked. The black haired boy was mumbling something that was apparently hilarious, for after a few moments the blond was throwing his head back laughing loudly.

His laughter sounded like music to her ears.

Like the blonde woman, their skin seemed to glisten slightly under the lights in the corridor.

If Levy had to guess, she would've said the first four were her age, but not the fifth person. She was a small girl, with long dark blue hair, so dark Levy wondered if it might actually be purple, that was pulled into two pigtails. She looked about fourteen and was talking animatedly to the boy next to her, her mouth opening and closing at such fast speeds, Levy wondered how he managed to understand everything she was saying. The girl seemed to walk as quickly as she spoke, her feet barely touched the floor as she glided across the hallway, her eyes seemingly on _anything_ but the path in front of her. How she hadn't collided with anyone was beyond Levy.

Levy turned her gaze to final person in the group and her stomach did a weird sort of somersault.

He was tall and muscled, but with an odd sort of grace she wouldn't have expected from someone of his size. Masses of black hair rolled down his back, some of it jutting forward to frame his already angular face. Unlike the others, his skin wasn't free from blemishes (long, jagged, scars wound themselves around his forearms), and yet he looked just as perfect. If not, _more_ so. He looked like he was listening intently to whatever the smaller girl was saying, as his brows were furrowed slightly and lips pursed into a frown.

The small girl looked up suddenly, her gaze meeting Levy's for just a fraction of a second, and yet, for Levy it felt like an eternity. Levy's cheeks flushed and she quickly looked away, but not before she saw the girls lips dip into a thoughtful frown.

"Who are _they_?" she whispered to Jet and Droy as they hurried along the corridor.

By the tone of her voice, it was clear who she meant and Droy laughed a little before answering, "they're the Redfox's."

"The Redfox's?" she repeated, "they don't _look_ like siblings."

And they didn't. Although they all had that strange pale tint to their skin, and that weird glistening effect, they didn't exactly look related. She supposed the closest ones were the boy with the bun and the final boy with the long hair, but other than that, they looked completely different.

"They're not," Jet said helpfully, "all adopted. I don't think Carmela can have kids, or something."

"Oh."

She watched as the Redfox's dispersed amongst themselves, the blonde woman and the pink haired boy ducked into one room, while the two boys slid into another, along with the final boy with the long black hair. Finally, only the young girl remained and Levy watched as she swiveled on the spot before freezing suddenly.

The girl turned around slowly and, once again, met Levy's gaze. The thoughtful frown was back again, though this time there was something else etched onto her face that Levy couldn't quite decipher.

Before she had the chance to nudge Jet or Droy and ask if _they_ saw the strange look on the girls face, the bell rang and the girl ran hurriedly down the corridor.

"Don't think about them too much," Jet said lightly, apparently noticing the way she was carefully watching the small girl run down the corridor, "they're a bit...weird."

"Weird?"

" _Weird_ ," Droy said firmly, emphasizing the word, "now come on, we'll be late."

She still had questions to ask, but she shelved them for now, following Jet and Droy towards their Math lesson. Still, she couldn't _quite_ get the girls strange look out of her mind. She'd identified the 'something else' that had been etched on her face now, and it made her feel nervous.

The girl had looked scared. Actually, she'd looked flat out _terrified_ and, oddly, a little sad.

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 **Authors Note:** Alright, yes this _was_ inspired by Twilight. I may not like where Meyer went with the Twilight franchise, but modern vampires falling in love with humans and the struggle that brings is something I've always had a soft spot for.

But, aside from a few things, this will not follow the Twilight plot _at all_. So no creepy, gross, stalker Gajeel who watches Levy sleep at night and doesn't allow her to have any friends. I'll also try to make Levy a _tad_ more likable than Bella...which shouldn't be hard because Bella is pretty awful. This chapter is probably the most similar to anything that happens in the book - and I feel even this is pretty different drastically as you can see.

There will be quite a _few_ ships in this - some are mentioned/hinted at in this chapter. I am tempted to list them all here, but where's the fun in that? I'll also be throwing in a couple OC's here and there, but (apart from one or two) they're not wholly integral to the plot.

Also, no werewolves in this story! Keeping it as simple as I can (and it's already pretty convoluted).

If you have any questions, that aren't spoilerific, please feel free to ask and I'll see if I can help.

Other than that: if you're feeling nice, don't forget to review and let me know what you think.


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